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Axle Breather Valves

Armada

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Anyone know who carries Rockwell axle vents for the M35? I'm guessing it's a common vent with many applications. A truck stop maybe?
 

Jones

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I'd try a transmission or gear shop that does manual boxes and rear axles. I think you'll find that they're sold by thread size based on the hole they screw into.
 

sailor2000

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OK... so looking at the Army data... if you run into water with hot axles... the rapid cooling causes a pressure drop inside the axle... which sucks water in past the seals... why not just hose / tube the axle vents up to the top of the firewall????
 

Recovry4x4

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Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

sailor2000 said:
OK... so looking at the Army data... if you run into water with hot axles... the rapid cooling causes a pressure drop inside the axle... which sucks water in past the seals... why not just hose / tube the axle vents up to the top of the firewall????
Its a one way valve. It allows pressure out not in. This is why it is a poor choice for the top of the deuce master cylinder.
 

sailor2000

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Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

[quote="Recovry4x4Its a one way valve. It allows pressure out not in. This is why it is a poor choice for the top of the deuce master cylinder.[/quote]

Yes.. I got that... so the water is sucked in past the grease / oil seals when the hot axle hits cold water and creates a vacuum inside the axle housing... ... (there is a PS mag article on this.. but I cannot find it now... of course...) so why not just run the vent up high????? so free breathing and no vacuum to pull in water? How did the DUKW do it?
 

Armada

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Thanks for the leads. I checked all over Saturn maccus, no wonder I couldn't find them on their site.....m151..... :roll:

I may just pop the caps and run hoses high. They failed because of all the crud from the road that gets splashed on them. And plus the fact that they're 36 years old probably didn't help. Front axle vent works fine, and so do the gear boxes. May just replace them all for insurance.
 

Jones

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RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

Kenny's right on as far as the low vents being one-way goes.
I have to run high vents as I'm using full air brake axles on the baby HEMTT and the air pots need to flow both ways in order for the brakes to apply and release. I've got some pretty good-sized vents and so brakes, axles and transfer-case will be routed through them. One vent block for the front and one for the rear.
 

ida34

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RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

The front vent worked after I got it loose. It was stuck closed before I messed with it. As soon as I twisted it released. Did you have anymore leakage after you modified the vents.
 

Armada

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RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

No more leakage, they did what they were supposed to, so no more pressure buildup. I never did get the rear vents to free up.
 

cranetruck

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RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

I went all the way on this one for the deuce and plumbed all the vents (exept the transmission) so that they can also be pressurized for fording. Needless to say, the xm757 came this way from factory.
 

sailor2000

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Re: RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

cranetruck said:
I went all the way on this one for the deuce and plumbed all the vents (exept the transmission) so that they can also be pressurized for fording. Needless to say, the xm757 came this way from factory.
What air pressure are you using to pressurize the cases? Are you putting a drier on the air supply?
 

gene

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RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

Bjorn, when you plumbed your vents am I right in assuming that you ran a T from the air system with a regulator to step down the pressure to 2 PSI?

Gene
 

cranetruck

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RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

Correct, there is also a manual valve to switch from venting to the atmosphere when not set up for fording.
 

cranetruck

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Re: RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

sailor2000 said:
...
What air pressure are you using to pressurize the cases? Are you putting a drier on the air supply?
The pressure is 1.5 to 2 psi, enough for about 4 ft of water above the axles.

No air drier, but I do have the alcohol evaporator installed for cold weather to prevent ice build-up. IMHO the alcohol evaporator should be used on trucks with air drier also.
 

Barrman

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RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

Sailer

The fording kit for most military vehicles uses engine blow by to pressurize the engine/transmission/t-case and axles.

The axle/transmission/t-case vent lines all go to the air filter housing area depending on the vehicle and tie into the engine vent system. A pull handle inside the cab connects to the engine vent system (What a pcv valve is part of in a normal car,) Pulling the handle closes off the vent system from the air intake system. This causes pressure to build inside the engine and the other components listed. Therefore, they now have positive pressure and theoretically will keep water out. You can tell if it is working right because your transmission shifter boot will inflate like a tire.

Obviously, this can cause major oil leaks if left this way for normal use. You are only supposed to use it during fording operations and at speeds slower than around 5 or 8 mph. I can't remember what the plate says on my M35 dash right now.
 

greensix

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RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

the alemite number for axle vents is 327240 opens at 1-1 1/2 psi. if you use any higher psi vents the pressure will cause you to leak especially if seals are old
 

cranetruck

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Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Axle Breather Valves

Barrman said:
.....You can tell if it is working right because your transmission shifter boot will inflate like a tire....
.
The vent on top of the transmission should release the pressure to keep that from happening, but the boot does have to be tight.
 
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